Made in L.A. 2016: a, the, though, only

The third iteration of the Hammer’s biennial exhibition continues to highlight the practices of artists working throughout Los Angeles and the surrounding areas.

Made in L.A. 2016: a, the, though, only is the third iteration of the Hammer’s biennial exhibition highlighting the practices of artists working throughout the greater Los Angeles area. As part of an ongoing series, the exhibition addresses Los Angeles as a center of activity inseparable from the global network of art production, revealing how artists move fluidly between contexts and respond to their local conditions. Rather than present a unifying regional aesthetic, sensibility, or identity historically associated with the city, Made in L.A. 2016focuses on artists from different disciplinary backgrounds, allowing individual projects and bodies of work to shape the overall exhibition. It features condensed monographic surveys, comprehensive displays of multiyear projects, and the premiere of new commissions from emerging artists, while extending into such disciplines as dance, fashion, literature, music, and film.

The artist and poet Aram Saroyan was tasked with providing a subtitle for the exhibition. His poem—“a, the, though, only”—has been a guide for thinking about the many different singularities and approaches represented by a venture of this nature. As such, the site of the subtitle becomes an integral part of the exhibition’s ever-expanding reach beyond the museum. Other contributors considered the distribution of the exhibition to the same effect, venturing into territories that meet the needs of their work and creative output as established by their respective practices. Whether in the form of the Internet, public access television, or the social spaces of daily life and the broader expanse of the city, a number of contributions are as dependent upon their physical remove and displacement as they are on the conventions of museum display. Though an exhibition of this variety appears to be interdisciplinary in its scope, the boundaries between disciplines remain duly intact. The modes of self-examination and critical reflexivity that are particular to each are therefore met on their own terms, according to their distinct rules of engagement.

Mohn Awards

Funded through the generosity of Los Angeles philanthropists and art collectors Jarl and Pamela Mohn, The Mohn Award ($100,000) and the Career Achievement Award ($25,000) will be selected by a professional jury, and the Public Recognition Award ($25,000) will be determined through a public vote. All the artists in the exhibition are eligible to receive the awards. Learn more about the awards.

About Made in L.A.

The Hammer’s biennial exhibition series Made in L.A. focuses exclusively on artists from the L.A. region with an emphasis on emerging and under-recognized artists. The Los Angeles biennial debuts new installations, videos, films, sculptures, performances, and paintings commissioned specifically for the exhibition and offers insight into the current trends and practices coming out of Los Angeles, one of the most active and energetic art communities in the world. Made in L.A. began in 2012 with a second iteration in 2014, and followed the tradition of the Hammer Invitational exhibitions, which occurred every two years and included Snapshot(2001), International Paper(2003), Thing(2005), Eden’s Edge(2007), Nine Lives(2009), and All of this and nothing (2011).

Made in L.A. 2012was organized by Anne Ellegood and Ali Subotnick of the Hammer, and Lauri Firstenberg, Malik Gaines, and Cesar Garcia of LA >< ART.

The exhibition is made possible, in part, by the Mohn Family Foundation and members of the Hammer Circle.

Major support is provided by Nick Grouf and Shana Eddy-Grouf. Generous funding is also provided by Viveca Paulin-Ferrell and Will Ferrell, Dori and Charles Mostov, Beth Rudin DeWoody and The May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, and The Fran and Ray Stark Foundation. Additional underwriting by the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs, Andrew Nikou, the Pasadena Art Alliance and Mark Sandelson.